Romantic States by Romantic States
ROMANTIC STATES is Jim Triplett and Ilenia Madelaire from Baltimore. On this self-titled release, the duo continues their minimalist approach to writing and recording, while integrating dynamic shifts not explored in earlier work. The result is a collection of raw, sparse, and skeletal lo-fi rock songs that are sincere, vulnerable, and haunting.
all tapes come with free digital download, but you can get mp3s here:
romanticstates.bandcamp.com/album/romantic-states-2
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"Romantic States forge their path with little more than guitar, drums and voice but their success lies in what they achieve outside of these components. Immeasurable as these things often are, there’s a sense of melodrama that bleeds out of these tracks, a longing that you just can’t place. It’s there in the emphatic build of opening track ‘Watched By An Animal‘ and more prominently in the (beautiful) ugliness of ‘Frozen In Place‘. This muted charm runs like the lifeblood right through the heart of Romantic States, breathing fire in to its more raucous moments while propping up the more disillusioned passages where it slows to a quietened sigh, lost, to some extent, within the confines of the world it’s created for itself. A downbeat and fiery collection of songs that never settles, never quite finds the answers that it sets out to, but one that builds itself up regardless, in to something that, for all the disjointed elements that surrounds, still manages to portray an unexpected feeling of beauty." – GoldFlakePaint
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"a seductive, cohesive whole [that] isn't merely impressive, it's quite often hypnotic." – Baltimore City Paper
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"9 canciones honestas, cristalinas y eso, minimalistas, una propuesta de corazón lo-fi que desprende honestidad, la misma que habían desfilado en algunos de sus trabajos anteriores" – Shook Down
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"intimate, a little experimental, and subtly beautiful" – The Le Sigh
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"The duo craft unwaveringly lighthearted pop tunes...the presentation makes me feel particularly nostalgic for the classic basement band setup — minimal guitar strokes atop steady rock beats, and an infectious youthful bounce as songs travel through their peaks and valleys, drive and rest. Romantic States’ stripped down formula allows space for the hooks to shine through, be it the breezy movement of instrumental interplay or the vulnerable, raw vocal leads. Their shimmery guitar work is particularly delectable during the prettier moments on the record, like the opening of “Fearless Kisses” before the tempo hastens into the soundtrack for a high school summer vacation. Romantic States succeed in deconstructing the superficial complexity that’s become commonplace in today’s candy-like pop music. Romantic States are songwriters with no compulsion to obscure their knack." – Decoder Magazine
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"Romantic States are a minimalist experimental rock band from Baltimore, emphasizing rhythm and melody over instrumental complexity. Their sound is spectral, with live drums and drum machines combined to provide a back beat for reverby guitars and washed out, dream-like vocals in their own version of deconstructed pop/rock songs." – The Modern Folk Music Of America
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"a poised approach to songwriting, tunes that are skeletal in nature. While it may appear thin, oblique, and fragile, you’ll be surprised just how resilient and mercurial this collection of songs can be." – Gelatinous Blog
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"[I] was immediately attracted to the way the music finds experimentation within it's lo-fi, stark song arrangements...It has become an album that I find myself continually returning to." – Gumshoe
Tracklist
| 1. | Watched By An Animal | 3:41 |
| 2. | Back Pain | 2:51 |
| 3. | Frozen In Place | 3:05 |
| 4. | Rotting Promise | 3:09 |
| 5. | Thin Fleshed | 3:01 |
| 6. | Museum | 3:29 |
| 7. | Broken Clothes | 3:40 |
| 8. | Nettles | 4:06 |
| 9. | Fearless Kisses | 3:22 |
